Biography Of Ferns

Pastel Gothic

Written by: PP on 12/06/2008 02:17:35

What is it with labeling all garage rock bands as \"post-punk\" or \"art rock\" these days. Both tags have been closely associated not just with Biography Of Ferns, but also most other bands sounding similar to them, even though these terms are just artsy fartsy ways of inflating simple (and enjoyable!) garage rock into sounding more complex and artistic than it really is.

\"Pastel Gothic\" isn\'t post-punk or art rock, even pushing the band as a punk rock act is far out, considering their musical realm has much more to do with the indie flavoured garage rock of bands like The Strokes and The Hives than anything else. Building on a tumbling chord based approach on guitars, Biography of Ferns has the basics of The Strokes sound laid down, but instead of sounding happy and over joyous vocally and instrumentally, there\'s a sense of punk rock attitude in the band (maybe that\'s where they get the post-punk reference from?), even if the music doesn\'t necessarily have anything to do with the genre.

The chords are played with energy and devotion, creating a convincing image of a group of friends jamming at their local garage in front of just five to ten people in audience. The purposefully lo-fi production helps fortifying their underground image as well - I especially love the clearly audible bass lines that are like straight out of garage rock 101. Same goes with vocalist Justin Hamacher\'s voice. He sounds slightly downcast, creating that arrogant image most indie flavored bands need in order to start creating buzz around them. The guitars often go into opposite direction than his voice (see \"Control Getsum\", for instance), creating a characteristically garage rock feel to the band - imagine them as a gloomier, less mainstream version of The Strokes and you\'re pretty close. Especially because these dudes know how to write songs that engage your intellect. Not just lyrically but also musically. With only a few exceptions, the songs don\'t stick to your memory on first go, but upon listens upon listens of closer investigation, you\'ll find a similar creative connection with the band\'s weird choruses as you might do with a Sonic Youth song.

Overall, \"Pastel Gothic\" is a great treat to any fan of garage rock. Especially those desperately looking for the next Strokes after they started sucking on the last album, Biography Of Ferns is a great find. If you also happen to be one of those people who want to befriend themselves with a band before they get huge, now is about time to get close with Biography of Ferns - the songwriting is approaching a level where it\'ll start a snowball effect very quickly, very soon.

8

Download: Control Getsum, Build You Down
For the fans of: The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives
Listen: Myspace

Release date 22.04.2008
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